Building management systems such as fire alarm systems and security systems are often installed within a premises such as commercial, residential, or governmental buildings. Examples of these buildings include offices, hospitals, warehouses, multi-unit dwellings, schools or universities, shopping malls, government offices, and casinos. The building management systems generally include building control panels that function as system controllers and distributed sensors and actuators and hybrid sensor/actuator devices.
For example, the fire alarm systems will typically include fire control panels, fire detection/initiation devices and alarm notification devices. The fire detection/initiation devices and alarm notification devices are installed throughout the buildings and connect to the panels. These devices communicate over a local circuit such as a safety and security network, which in turn connects to the fire control panel. Some examples of fire detection/initiation devices include smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, flame detectors, temperature sensors, and/or pull stations (also known as manual call points). Some examples of fire notification devices include speakers, horns, bells, chimes, light emitting diode (LED) reader boards, and/or flashing lights (e.g., strobes).
The fire detection devices monitor the buildings for indicators of fire. Upon detection of an indicator of fire such as smoke or heat or flames, the device is activated and a signal is sent from the activated device over the safety and security network to the fire control panel. The fire control panel then initiates an alarm condition by activating audio and visible alarms of the fire notification devices. Additionally, the fire control panel will also send the indications of fire as alarm information to a monitoring station.
In a similar vein, the security systems typically include security panels and monitoring devices, where the monitoring devices detect indications of intrusions and unauthorized access at or within the building and report to the security panel. The monitoring devices of the intrusion systems often include motion sensor devices, surveillance camera devices, and door controllers that communicate with the intrusion panel over a safety and security network and might also control the door locking/unlocking. Motion sensor devices can detect intrusions and unauthorized access to the premises, and send indications of the intrusions to the security panel. The surveillance camera devices capture video data of monitored areas within the premises, and door controllers provide access to perimeter and/or internal doors, in examples. Additionally, the security panel will also send the indications of intrusions as intrusion information to a monitoring station.
The monitoring stations will typically monitor multiple building management systems from multiple buildings for status information reported from the building control panels of these systems. The monitoring stations process the status information and then notify the proper authorities: the local fire department or fire brigade and other first responders such as medical personnel, security personnel and/or police. Monitoring stations are often required by regulations, making them a standard component of most building management systems, regardless of age or manufacturer of the components of these systems. These monitoring stations can be administered by a third party company, the same company that provides or manufactures the building management systems, building owner, or a public agency, among examples.
Many different types of status information are sent between the building control panels and the monitoring station. The status information includes alarm information sent from fire control panels, intrusion information sent from security panels, and operational information of the panels, in examples. The operational information includes state information of the panels, handshaking signals between the panels and the monitoring stations, and connection data of a communications link between the panels and monitoring station, in examples. In addition, the status information will also often include the location (e.g. street address) at which the panels are installed, and customer-specific information of a sensitive or confidential nature. In examples, this information includes names and addresses of individuals and their telephone numbers, account numbers and personal identification numbers (PIN), alarm codes used to arm and disarm security panels, and possibly other sensitive information. The status information also includes information sent from the monitoring station to the building control panels, such as operational state of the monitoring station.